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Musa paradisiaca L. in Pandanus database of Indian plant names
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  Musa paradisiaca L. details in Pandanus database of Indian plant names

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 Latin nameMusa paradisiaca L.
 FamilyMusaceae
 Identified with (Lat)Musa sapientum L.
 Identified with (Skt)kadalī
 Identified with (Pkt)kayalī, kelī
 Identified with (Hin)kelā
 Identified with (Ben)kalā, kalāgāch
 Identified with (Tam)kataḷivāḻai, namaraivāḵai, lāṭaṉ, vāḵai
 Identified with (Mal)kadaḷivāḻa, kṣētrakadaḷi
 Identified with (Eng)Banana plant, Plantain
 Botanical infoAn evergreen tall perennial herb, large oblong leaves, purplish brown drooping flowers, yellow fruits in clusters, extensively cultivated all over India.
 Search occurrencekadalī, in the Pandanus database of Sanskrit e-texts
 See plant's imageMusa paradisiaca L. in Google image search
 Encyclopedias &
 Dictionaries

Monier-Williams: A Sanskrit-English Dictionary (p. 248)
kadala, as, ī (ā L.) mf. the plantain or banana tree, Musa Sapientum (its soft, perishable stem is a symbol of frailty) Suśr. R. Megh.; (ā) f. N. of several plants (Pistia Stratiotes, Bombax Heptaphyllum, Calosanthes Indica) L.; (ī) f. the plantain tree Bhpr.; a kind of deer (the hide of which is used as a seat) MBh. Suśr.; a flag, banner, flag carried by an elephant L.; (am) n. the banana Suśr. f. (see kandalī).

Tamil Lexicon, University of Madras (p. 710)
katalivāḻai: Very small species of plantain-tree, Musa paradisiaca

Tamil Lexicon, University of Madras (p. 3439)
lāṭaṉ: 1. Green banana, s. tr., Musa paradisiaca-troglodytarum; 2. A kind of cotton plant with green seeds

Tamil Lexicon, University of Madras (p. 3574)
vākai: 1. Sirissa, Albizzia ; 2. Fragrant sirissa; 3. West Indian peatree; 4. Chaplet of sirissa flowers worn by victors; 5. Victory; 6. Theme of a conqueror wearing a chaplet of sirissa flowers and celebrating his victory over royal enemies; 7. Theme in which the members of the four castes, hermits and others exalt their characteristic attainments; 8. Good behaviour; 9. Gift; 10. Plenty; 11. Nature; 12. Penance

Dymock, Warden, Hooper: Pharmacographia Indica (vol. III, pp. 443-445)
Musa paradisiaca, Scitamineae
Fig.- Plantain (Eng.), Bananier (Fr.)
The cultivated plantains are called Kadali in Sanskrit, and the wild plantains, which, we believe, to be their progenitors, such as Bhānuphala or Ansumatphala "having luminous fruit," Chāruphala "having delicious fruit," Rājeshtha "liked by kings," Vana-lakshmi "beauty of the woods," &c. We think there can be little doubt that the plantain has been under cultivation in India from prehistoric times. The Greeks under Alexander must have become acquainted with it; Theophrastus and Pliny describe a tree called Pala, with leaves like the wing of a bird, three cubits in length, which puts forth its fruit from the bark, a fruit remarkable for the sweetness of its juice, a single one (bunch?) containing sufficient to satisfy four persons; this tree is supposed to have been the plantain. The word pāla signifies "leaves," but we are not aware of its ever having been applied to the plantain. The Arabs call it Mauz and Talk, and under the latter name it is mentioned in the Koran - -*- (and the companions of the right hand, happy companions of the right hand among Lotus trees free from thorns, and plantains with their lapping clusters of fruit).
Under the name of Mauz, Mosne describes the fruit as useful in soreness of the throat and chest with dry cough, and in irritability of the bladder; he considers it to be aphrodisiac, diuretic and aperient, and recommends it to be cooked with sugar and honey. Eaten in excess it gives rise to indigestion. Abu Hanifeh in the 9th century described very accurately the manner of growth of the plantain, and quotes a saying of Ash'ab, to his son, as related by As, "Wherefore dost thou not become like me?" to which he answered, "Such as I is like the Mauzah, which does not attain to a good state until its parent dies." (Madd-el-kamus.) The early Italian travellers called the plant Fico d' Adamo, and thought they saw in the transverse section of the fruit a cross or even a crucifix. Mandeville calls it the Apple of Paradise. The varieties of the plantain are very numerous; Rumphius describes sixteen (Herb. Amb., viii., 2). Some of these, like the large yellow Manyel, are only used after they have been cooked; others, as the Iclāhi, are small and delicate in flavour. The abortive flowers at the end of the spike are removed and used as a vegetable by the Hindus, and the unripe fruit, called Mochaka in Sanskrit, is used medicinally on account of its astringent properties in diabetes; it is made into a ghrita with the three myrobalans and aromatics. Young plantain leaves are universally used as a cool dressing for blisters and to retain the moisture of water dressings; they serve also as a green shade for the eyes. Emerson notices the use of the sap to allay thirst in cholera. Mčr Muhammad Husain in the Makhzan tells us that the centre of the stem, Kanjiyāl, is eaten with fish as a vegetable in Bengal, that the kind called Mālbhok is used as a poultice to burns, and that called Bolkad is boiled and used as an ointment to the syphilitic eruptions of children; he also notices the use of the ashes on account of their alkaline properties, and of the root as an anthelmintic. MM. Corre and Lejanne state that the fruit stems sliced and macerated in water all night, yield a sudorific drink; and that the charcoal of the skin of the fruit is recommended by Chevalier as an application to the cracks in the sole of the foot from which Negroes suffer. Pereira (Mat. Med., ii., p. 222) has drawn attention to the nutritive properties of the meal prepared from the fruit. In India the lower portion of the stem of the wild plantain is a valuable resource in famine seasons on account of the large quantity of starch it contains. Starch prepared from the unripe fruit is used in the treatment of bowel complaints in Bengal. A specimen we examined consisted almost wholly of pure starch, with a trace of astringent extractive. In America syrup of bananas is said to be singularly effective in relieving chronis bronchitis. The preparation is simple, requiring only that the fruit shall be cut in small pieces and with an equal weight of sugar be placed in a closed jar, which is set in cold water and slowly heated to the boiling point, when it is to be removed from the fire and allowed to pool. The dose mentioned is a teaspoonful every hour.
Commerce.- Dried plantains are an article of commerce in India, and are excellent when stewed with sugar or fried in butter. Bombay exports annually from 300 to 400 cwts.


 
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